Contactless for the win, again…
Whenever you’re lucky enough to visit an exciting destination, you naturally want to soak up every moment. That doesn’t include standing at a ticket machine, trying to figure out how to input the right taps to get from one place to another.
London made the dream of whizzing through transit systems a reality with the launch of contactless credit card acceptance, then Sydney, Vancouver and Milan followed suit. Now, Singapore is on board too…
If you’ve ever thought about using the city’s squeaky clean MRT transit system, it’s now easier, and faster than ever. You don’t even have to be crazy rich to do it. Obviously…
How It Works
Singapore’s Land Transit Authority (LTA) has worked with Mastercard over the past month to get contactless payments going. If you’re a local this is great. If you’re a traveller, it’s also great.
The new system allows you to use your contactless Mastercard bank card to simply tap in at any transit point, and tap out. This saves the hassle of buying tickets and allows you to move without breaking a stride, at least almost. Out of town cards will work just fine.
Heavenly air conditioning aside, Singapore’s MRT is one of the cleanest and best ways to get around the city and being able to use your contactless Mastercard (even those from abroad) is a big step. It works just how it sounds. Arrive at a station: tap in. Depart a station: tap out. The journey fare will automatically be calculated and billed to your account.
What’s Next
Singapore’s LTA notes that Visa contactless acceptance should be fully up and running in the second half of 2019, so with any hope, you’ll have even more options to breeze through the garden city.
Furthermore, the introduction of Apple and Google Pay is also expected in the near future. There’s so much to see and do in Singapore, and now you have even fewer excuses to actually do it. Hot tip: the Singapore MRT stations are one of the best places to stay cool in the city.
HT: Oneworld Jetsetters.
Hi, its actually known as the MRT and not the MTR in Singapore 🙂 MTR is what the Hong Kong system is called
Why would I have to be crazy or rich to take advantage?!
An administrative fee ($0.50/posting) will be levied if you are using a foreign-issued Mastercard contactless bank card for transit payment.
Hey Gilbert – Apple Pay / Google Pay / Samsung Pay are already accepted (as of the 4th April), provided the underlying card is Mastercard.